A text book example of special features using clay tiles

A roofing project using clay tiles from Sandtoft Roof Tiles has won a prestigious award in the recent Clay Roofing Awards organised by the Clay Roof Tile Council (CRTC).

Chairman of CRTC judging panel, Mr Kevin Farrell said: "With its charming array of eyebrows, swept valleys, gables and vertical hanging one could use this house as a text book example of special features using clay roof tiles."

Sandtoft supplied 12,000 Autumn Brown, and 6,000 Dark Chestnut Goxhill Plain Tiles for the Barons Mead project, a single house with distinctive features including three eyebrows and swept valleys.

Roofer Paul Swetman faced a number of technical challenges when he took on the job of rebuilding the roof on Cliff Charlesworth's home in Barons Mead, in Dorking. Mr Charlesworth, a keen and knowledgeable DIY enthusiast, who spent a large part of his working life as a mechanical engineer for Mobil Oil in the Middle East, was used to handling unusual and often complicated construction projects, and adopted a hands-on role in the roof re-build.

One of the challenges to be overcome was the close proximity of the roof to the ceilings below. This meant that one third of the battens had to be screwed. All of the lead flashings were replaced using new sheet lead in varying thicknesses from code three to code six.

The wide ranges in pitches also made it necessary to take particular care with setting out the batten gauges, especially where the eyebrows merged into swept valleys. Lime mortar was used for all verges, bonnets and ridge tiles.

The Clay Roofing Awards judges were impressed by the way in which the technical challenges were addressed to faithfully recreate a practical and aesthetically pleasing roof.

Chairman of the CRTC judging panel, Mr Kevin Farrell said: "The work demonstrates exceedingly good craftsmanship with sensitivity to the technical and aesthetic challenges taken into account."

He particularly praised the roofer, Paul Swetman, for re-creating a charming array of eyebrows, swept valleys, gables and vertical hanging. He added that the project was 'a text book example of special features using clay roof tiles'.